Things I usually fail to do.

[Octagon]

Usually, I fail to do the following things in my writing, either because of a lack of focus, or because of a lack of remembering.

1. Vary the sentence length.
2. Vary the lengths from between punctuation marks.
3. Vary the sentence structure.
4. Use concise language.
5. Depend as much as possible on nouns and verbs.
6. Use a single strong verb instead of a verb and an action noun most of the time.
7. Etc.

[Octagon]

I also usually fail to attend to scansion. Even when I do, I usually fail to attend to feet longer than three syllables.

I suppose it would be wise of me to practice each one of these principles, one at a time.

In these posts, I did not attend much to scansion, though I tried for a little while and afterward chose not to bother.

[pelwrath]

Write what you feel and what comes to you. Edit later. I know well about self doubt. If this is about the editing phase, get other eyes on it.
No writer is as bad as they view themselves.

[Alatariel]

That can all be addressed during the editing phase, as Pelwrath suggested. No one writes perfectly the first time, we all go back and make things stronger. Lots of slicing and dicing. And when you edit enough then over time your writing naturally evolves and your work needs less and less editing.

[saintofm]

Aug 4, 2024 4:44:50 GMT -6 Octagon said:

Usually, I fail to do the following things in my writing, either because of a lack of focus, or because of a lack of remembering.

1. Vary the sentence length.
2. Vary the lengths from between punctuation marks.
3. Vary the sentence structure.
4. Use concise language.
5. Depend as much as possible on nouns and verbs.
6. Use a single strong verb instead of a verb and an action noun most of the time.
7. Etc.


I also usually fail to attend to scansion. Even when I do, I usually fail to attend to feet longer than three syllables.



I suppose it would be wise of me to practice each one of these principles, one at a time.



In these posts, I did not attend much to scansion, though I tried for a little while and afterward chose not to bother.

Yeah, my ADHD can relate.

There are ways to potentially make this a strength, especially in a poetic way. I am no poet, so can't help you there. 

With the first three, I would focus on what feels right. If you have a run on sentence you can try breaking it up to match how people would speak. 


Being Concise is also a problem I have. There is an adage called the K.I.S.S System: Keep It Simple Stupid. It applies to just about anything. Its another way of saying Arkam's Razor where the simplest solution is almost always the best one. I am a pantser, and I have a tendency to just spew whatever ideas I have at hand. I do outlines everyone in a while, but I tend to go overboard. A good reason to keep many an essay down to 3 to 5 pages is to keep this from being diarrhea of ideas without any something to hold it together. 

Framing is often a good idea to help with this. You have an idea, figure out all the things that can go into this frame that adds to that idea, and leave out all the ideas that would distract from it.

 Example: Don't think about an elephant. By trying to not think about it, you end up thinking about it. 

Or to use a video game: What are some of the core elements that make most good Assassin Creed games. Stealth, Parkour, multi kills, concepts of Order vs Freedom, and a look at the past through the lenses of someone living it. 

Armored Core: A lego kit of mecha, fast pace action, arm mounted lightsabers, the choice of missions you can take or ignore with little to no consequence. 

Pokemon: Collect a bunch of animals, train them and make them fight, 8 gyms to act as your bosses, a rock/Paper/Scissors Mechanic for strengths and weaknesses, bosses that consist of 8 Gyms, a rival, some criminal element, legendary Pokémon to catch, and the Elite Four and their champion. 

Dynasty Warriors: Throw physics out the window, colorful characters with equally colorful unfits and weapons that are one person armies, bad English Voice Acting, fighting Lu Bu is a TRAP!"

Anything in addition to this is just gravy. 


Noun and Verb Choice: This is something that we all need to work on, and looking at most youtube videos on Show Don't Tell can help with this. After all you can only use very so many times before it looses its effect.

A character is sad, how sad? 
Unhappy? 
Blue?
Cheerless?
Downtrodden?
Heartbroken?
Depressed?
Grief Stricken?
Melancholic?

Each of these words means sad, but the level of sadness attributed to each one is vastly different. A Pomeranian is a dog. So is a Great Dane, and I know which one I want to be a lapdog.

[HDSimplicityy]

1) Not concise.
2) Not using strong verbs enough.
3) Weak character growth.  I definitely need to become stronger at this.
4) Poor character logic rather than intelligent characters with flaws.

5) Scenes that don't make sense because I rushed them trying to figure out the plot, or they just seemed cool in my head.

Yeah just barf it all out in the first draft. Second if you have to. Redo things in #3. You will be able to untwist your thoughts to clarity.